If you don't really need a Retina Display and since you will not notice a difference between 8 gigs of Ram and 16 gigs of Ram in Serato Video then you can easily just use one of the other models.

you can put 16gb of ram in the non-retina macs if you wanted to. overkill. but if you wanted to.

as mentioned in the keynote, the app would have to be re-coded to take advantage of the display. so who knows if it would take up more resources. i don't think too many software companies are going to be re-coding their apps for a retina display. that's alot of work.

the retina model has the hefty price. a nice display, but its restrictive. you would be better off with the non-retina model. save yourself some dough and get a late 2011 with similar performance instead of this mid 2012.

You could also just get the upgrade to the current version so you have usb 3.0 and a better graphics chip.
I wouldn't recommend the retina display to any dj cause you're limited to only the SSD that's in it. you can't pop out the super drive and drop a new hard drive in as there isn't one in there already.
Or like nyce said, get a great deal on a refurb or clearance 2011 MBP

I need to see the benchmarks on the new ones vs the old ones and see if the processors are that fast.

For editing and gaming retina would be nice, don't see any use for the club though. It's not like the output to your screens has any benefit by it.

I personally think that the Retina display based machines will work less efficient - you have to update 4 times the pixels at worst. This will affect the GPU performance.

That is definitely the case with the "Retina" iPads. The GPU (and battery) were massively upgraded, but with all the extra pixels the performance/speed is about the same as the previous model.

I'm betting there was a LOT of discussion about whether the 15-inch "retina" model should be branded as "MacBook Pro" or "MacBook Air". it's really straddling both, but in terms of upgradeability and connectivity it's more "Air".

For a lot of uses, it will be a really nice machine.

But not for VSL/ME users ;)

Well...if you don't mind paying a rather high price premium, dealing with either a limited library or the need to use an external drive, and waiting for everyone (Serato/Inklen) to get around to re-coding their apps for proper display...then I guess it would be okay.

Personally my ideal computer for SL/ME is still the "Late 2011" 17-inch running Snow Leopard.

By the time I feel any need to update that, hopefully there'll be better options than now.

yeah so im getting the 2100 one with 1gb graphics card, wish me luck. hopefully i don't regret not getting the new retina one

I picked up a 2011 15.4" with the i7 2.4 for $1800 all through price matching and such with a local retailer. That is $400 off its price 2 weeks ago. It has the 1GB GPU RAM. I hope to pick it up tonight/tomorrow(put it on hold with a deposit over the phone.) I really was heavily considering the 17" but these price drops is just too hard to pass up just to have larger screen, extra USB port, and express slot. Bench marks are not that different between the 2011 and 2012.

As a side note you can get a Thunderbolt hub with USB 3.0 ports built in, among other hubs/docks with USB 3.0. So even going 2011 does not mean USB 3.0 is beyond your reach. :)

Carrying around another converter and cables?

Thunderbolt hubs are overpriced and not good for what we do.
I want just my laptop, video out and usb ports for 57 and dicers.
No externals nothing else.

I picked up one of the new Retina Display Macs....I don't understand why so much negative towards it... My SL/ME run perfect, smooth, and a lot faster. No issue with usb 3.0 on a SL1 and 57 Mixer. and the GRAPHICS look absolutely incredible! I did a migration transfer from my old mac to the new mac and everything transfer over without a glitch!

Most are anti Retina MBP because the RAM and solid state hard drive are basically as is because they are soldered into their slots. So you can't upgrade with actual Apple OEM parts but for far less.

For instance I picked up the 8GB RAM from macsales.com for $99. That same upgrade from Apple would have been a $400 add on. Same with the solid state drives and regular hard drives.

For some it's not a problem but for those that are savy and experienced enough, it's tough to swallow a 400% increase in upgrade cost at the same time your paying more for a higher resolution screen.

and the fact that the retina display macs have no line in, so if you use mix emergency you can't record your audio portion of the set via line in.

The line level could/should be overcome using something like this: compare.ebay.com

Its a Line in to USB adapter. Now, granted someone paying $3k for a "pro grade DJ laptop" (I know, one can argue they are made for studio video editing vs in the field DJing) should not have to buy a dongle for recording sound input.... or at least given the option to have it upgraded and integrated.

The rMBP is the same as the mid-2012 MBP... It has a line-in but it's built into the headphone jack. You have to get one of the iPhone Mic-In cables because the pinout for the line-in is on a separate part of the headphone jack just like how the iPhone and iPads jacks work.

I've been using one of the older iRigs that I got a great deal for on amazon. Just get a 1/8>1/4 adapter if your using an RCA>1/8'' from the mixer, or do what I do and just get a 1/4 TRS signal straight from the soundboard.

thanks for your post...just picked up the 15" 256 gb over the holidays and was a little worried. BTW are you mixing videos as well?

Yes, I mix videos as well. Sorry just seeing this post

My old MBP 13" C2D 2.26GHz 8GB RAM used to run SL1/ME/CDJ2000HID/FW800 just fine.

However I just upgraded to the retina model 13" and I can now run high res video externally from my Thunderbolt port using the old Mini Displayport to VGA adapter. Still yet to get a long enough HDMI cable to go live with HD, but I have tried it out on my TV and it runs perfectly.

I just want the GUI of SSL to be upgraded to use the Retina fonts, we're still in the dark ages!

I have a Macbook Pro Quad Core 2.2 Ghz i7 with 16 gigs of Ram 1333Mhz. The Video Card is The Radeon 6750 1 gig. Hard drive is a Solid state. I am able to play High Def Videos at the highest video output settings and it plays it easy in Serato. I had other macbook pros and i wasnt able to do it because it couldnt handle it. I adjust the fan speed In SMS fan controller so the laptop can run cooler when doing videos. The Videos look sick in detail.

[quote I had other macbook pros and i wasnt able to do it because it couldnt handle it.

thats really vague seing as my old mbp 2008 core 2duo 2.53/512 vid card/4 gigs of ram played hd perfectly fine with effects running ...oh wait I wasn't using Sv or vsl I was using M.e. ...and it was flawless

@ djnak. I dont think you understood right. Can you play HD videos in the Best Video output settings which is The Highest.. ? NO. many Macbook pros with a 256 or 512 Mb video can play music videos But, You have to lower the Video output settings so it can play easier and not put strain on the Mac... Not in the highest settings.. The videos i am talking about are High deff 720p & 1080p H.264 Mp4 videos.. I can play 1080p in The Best Video output settings and it will run flawless. My previous macbook pro was a 2.66 ghz Core 2 Duo with 8 gigs of ram and the Video card was the Geforce 9600m gt with 512 mb of ram. I had to lower the video output to medium and sometimes ran it in high. The best setting was adding strain.

oh I understood you.....

I can confirm that with the 13" retina using MixEmergency, I can play HD videos at highest quality through the HDMI output with no slowdown of the GUI or any major strain on the mac. I use SMC fancontrol to keep it cool.

LOL
silly SV users....